Thanks very much for that info. I've often wondered about that because I once worked as an electrician in a steel mill, and did a couple years time in the hot mill. I was amazed at the amount of scale that was generated on blooms or re-heated slabs. A lot of effort went into scale breaking and use of sprays to blast off the scale via the water instantly turning to steam just prior to rolling. Rolled in scale was considered an inclusion or flaw, and avoided at all cost. So it always seemed a contradiction that a Damascus barrel, which if unfluxed or protected by inert gas, could be expected to contain perhaps 8000 psi or more. But they do... don't they?
